David Peel was, and still is, a street musician and political activist from the Lower East Side of New York City. With a collection of friends who became his bandmates and who were eponymously called the Lower East Side, he recorded groundbreaking albums of social reflections, urban tales, and hippie mythology. His raw, acoustic "street rock" was reflective of youth rebelliousness during the turmoil of the hippy era, including lyrics about marijuana, revolution, bad cops, sex, and rebellion against an unjust society.

David Peel’s first two albums established him as one of the founders of what was to become the punk and new wave movements in England and America.
Peel has performed with artists ranging from B. B. King to the Plastic Ono Band. The band was one of the first to regularly perform on cable TV in Manhattan on the public access channel of Manhattan Cable Television, as well as at the first Smoke-In Concerts sponsored by the Yippies in New York City in Central Park.

David Peel and the Lower East Side’s first album entitled “Have a Marijuana” (recorded in New York City’s Washington Square Park), was released in 1968. The second, “The American Revolution”, was released in 1970. Both were just exactly as you would think they would be from the album titles: musical manifestos presented with guitars and grins, that showcasing Peel’s no-holds-barred, in-your-face attitude and staunchly radical counter-culture espousing.

John Lennon saw David Peel perform in front of a large crowd in Washington Square Park in 1971, was quoted as saying,” He was shouting: why do you have to pay to see stars? I was embarrassed. I thought surely he must know we are here. Yoko and I love his hair, snazzy tight trousers and Hai Karate aftershave.” Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono subsequently produced Peel's third album, ‘The Pope Smokes Dope’. The album immediately set off an international furor. The record was banned in nearly every country of the world, except the United States, Japan, and Canada.

In a memorable appearance on the nationally televised David Frost Show in 1972, John and Yoko let David Peel and The Lower East Side have the spotlight, choosing instead to perform behind the group while an artist friend of Yoko's tossed paper airplanes from the stage.

Have A Marijuana (1968)

Tracklist

01. Mother, Where Is My Father
02. I Like Marijuana
03. Here Comes A Cop
04. I've Got Some Grass
05. Happy Mother's Day
06. Up Against the Wall
07. I Do My Balling In the Bathroom
08. Alphabet Song
09. Show Me the Way To Get Stoned
10. We Love You

01. I’m A Runaway
02. Everybody’s Smoking Marijuana
03. F Is Not A Dirty Word
04. The Hippie From New York City
05. McDonald’s Farm
06. The Ballad Of New York City / John Lennon-Yoko Ono
07. The Ballad Of Bob Dylan
08. The Chicago Conspiracy
09. The Hip Generation
10. I’m Gonna Start Another Riot
11. The Birth Control Blues
12. The Pope Smokes Dope